The iconic MIT home page Spotlight features a daily-changing image and design that focuses on advances in research, technology and education taking place at the Institute. Though some Spotlights do run multiple days - for example Friday's spot usually runs through the weekend, we work very hard to maintain the daily-changing tradition. We've combed our servers and have compiled a digital archive of the Institute home page through the years - well over 2000 images. Enjoy!

Today’s Spotlight features an image, courtesy of NASA and edited by Jose-Luis Olivares, of exoplanet Kepler-7 b.

Meteorologists sometimes struggle to accurately predict the weather here on Earth, but now we can find out how cloudy it is on planets outside our solar system, thanks to researchers at MIT.

In a paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, researchers in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT describe a technique to analyze data from NASA’s Kepler space observatory to determine the type of clouds on planets that orbit other stars, known as exoplanets.

The MIT home page Spotlight showcases the research, technology and education advances taking place at the Institute every day.

What makes it as a Spotlight image is an editorial decision by the MIT News Office based on factors that include timeliness, promotion of MIT's mission, the balance of interest to both internal and external audiences, and appropriateness.

We do welcome ideas and submissions for spotlights from community members, but please note we are not able to accommodate all requests. We are unable to run event previews or promotions as spotlights; for those looking to promote an event, we are happy to include your listing as an event headline on the homepage (when space is available). For more information, e-mail the spotlight team.

Today’s Spotlight uses a photograph, taken by Bryce Vickmark, of Cullen Buie, the Mitsui Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and graduate student William Braff.

There are good bacteria and there are bad bacteria — and sometimes both coexist within the same species.

Take, for instance, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a microbe common in soil and water. This bacterium has been found to colonize medical equipment in hospitals and clinics around the world, and can live benignly in healthy individuals. But the bug poses a risk to those with weakened immune systems, and can turn pathogenic in patients with cystic fibrosis, forming thick layers of mucus in the lungs.